In years past, Jim and I have spent late fall catching up on work. We now find ourselves looking for a new fall activity. You can only do so much wine tasting.
In late September, Lisa invited us to join them in Utah for some canyoneering, a sport neither Jim nor I had ever done. We decided a 5 day trip would give us a taste of the sport.
Lucky for us, Lisa, Kevin, and Dwayne are experienced canyoneers. Dwayne is a fabulous trip planner. We were in very good hands.
After flying to Salt Lake City with all our car camping and hiking gear, Jim and I drove down to Goblin Valley State Park, Utah. Lisa, Kevin, and Dwayne were already down there doing some hiking.
There had been unusually heavy rains in Utah, more rain in October than the previous 12 months combined. The canyon floors are narrow and hold water. We were completely unsure of how this would impact the trip. Lucky for Jim and I, the water just added to the adventure.
Jim and I arrived Goblin Valley State Park late afternoon. The rest of our group was already there. I highly recommend camping here. Private picnic areas set against the canyon walls.
We were able to enjoy a beautiful sunrise from the knoll right next to our camp spot. Thankful, sunrise was not until 7:45 giving us plenty of time to get coffee and move our camp chairs to the top of the knoll.
After breakfast, we headed off to find The Goblin’s Lair. This would be Jim and my first experience of rappelling into a canyon.
Goblin Valley is breathtaking. Full of hoodoos and mushroom shaped rocks. If you looked, you could find all sorts of faces in the rocks.
After crossing the valley floor, we scrambled around looking for the opening to the Lair.
Once we located Goblin’s Lair, we set up to rappel into the dark cavern. For some reason, Jim decided to go first. Adrenaline got the best of him.
Soon we were all in the Lair packing up the rope and scrambling out the opening. The backside of Goblin Valley was equally beautiful.
Our next stop was Ding and Dang Canyons. The hope was to do a loop heading up Ding Canyon and down Dang Canyon. No one knew how much standing water was still in the canyons.
The approach was over many different forms of rock.
Before long, the canyon narrowed into a slot. As the slot narrowed, the water in the floor increased. Some of us walked through the water while others stemmed the walls.
Just as we were nearing the end of the canyon, the water got deep. Kevin could not find the bottom with his hiking pole. Lisa was determined to see if we could get around the corner. In the end, she ended up swimming. The rest of us decided it was time to turn around.
Then we decided to head up Dang Canyon and see how far we could get. We knew there would be some 5.8 climbing this direction so we were definitely not making it all the way through.
The water in Dang Canyon came along much sooner and deeper.
We used a variety of climbing techniques to keep from having to swim.
Very fun first day.
The next day, we moved camp to the rim of Horseshoe Canyon. Simply beautiful and free since it was on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land.
We spent the day hiking Horseshoe Canyon and looking at the petroglyphs. There were 3 major walls: The High Gallery, The Alcove, and The Great Gallery.
The hiking in the canyon was very different than the day before. There were trees with high walls on both sides.
For our final day, we were going to do Little Blue John Canyon in Robbers Roost, the same area that Butch Cassidy’s gang hid out. We all setup for swimming if need be. Once we rappelled into the canyon, we had to deal with whatever water we found. We were all grateful to find very little water.
After parking the cars, we walked across the dessert looking for the opening to the canyon. Then out of nowhere, it appeared. We found an easy walk down into the wash.
Along the way, we saw a rock arch which demanded a stop for pictures.
Then the canyon stopped at a hole. Looks like we found our rappel into the slot canyon.
The lighting in the slot was perfect. The rock lite up in hues of peach.
Our next rappel took us deep into the slot canyon.
From here, we hiked and scrambled down the slot. Each obstacle had to be dealt with. There was no way around anything down here.
We were all pretty sure our final rappel would be into water. Lisa went first into the dark hole and was happy to report, no water. Jim couldn’t help stopping in mid-rappel to take pictures of the cavern below.
As we walked out of the tight slot, we were hit by sunshine. It was so nice to be warm again. We took a long break where 3 slot canyons came together. Before hiking out, we all agreed to explore the Main Blue John Slot Canyon.
The canyon would get very tight. The top of the walls almost touched. And then it would open up again to sunshine. The canyon did have its scrambling challenges typically with mud or water hazards to make them more interesting.
The next morning, Jim and I rose early to give us ample time to catch our afternoon flight. As we drove back to Salt Lake City, we talked about how much fun we had. Great fall sport.
Thanks again to Lisa, Kevin, and Dwayne for including us and taking out the newbies.
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